Before being a model

“I’ve wanted to be a model ever since I was little, playing with my Barbie doll.”
Anne V

Anne Vyalitsyna (also known as Anne V) was born on March 19, 1986 in Gorky city (now Nizhny Novgorod), Soviet Union. Her father works as a sports doctor for a soccer team and her mother is a pediatrician. Born into a family of physicians Anne did not want to follow in the footsteps of her parents. She was fond of dancing but dreamed about becoming a model.

At the age of 15 the pretty girl was spotted by IMG Models scouts in Saint Petersburg who were looking for fresh faces for MTV’s Fashionably Loud Europe. Anne entered the contest and won it along with a contract with IMG Paris. That was a great chance to change life which Anne was not going to lose.

Modeling Career

As soon as in September 2001 the strawberry blonde made her runway debut. She walked spring shows for Martine Sitbon, Roland Mouret and Sophia Kokosalaki.

In the early 2002 Anne Vyalitsyna became the face of Chloé and signed a fragrance contract with Chanel’s Chance. Besides, she landed deals with Anna Molinari and Sportmax. During fashion weeks Anne walked Anna Sui, DKNY, Prada, Fendi, and Givenchy shows in the three world fashion capitals – New York, Milan, and Paris. In April the Russian model did her first magazine cover – GlamourItaly, and a little later she graced the fall issue of Rebel. Already in August 2002 the girl appeared in Italian Vogue, and in September she was featured in Numéro, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, and i-D magzines.

In September 2002 Anne V was invited to do Spring/ Summer 2003 shows for Diane Von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs, Peter Som, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton. In November Anne was honored to pose for Numéro editorial alongside Eugenia Volodina and Jessica Miller.

The year 2003 was even more fruitful for Anne Vyalitsyna. In January she appeared in editorials for The Face and Japanese Vogue. In February she walked a number of fashion shows including those for Donna Karan, Helmut Lang, Pucci, Chloé, and Givenchy. In March she covered French Elle and two months later graced the front page of Russian Vogue. In June followed her work in editorials for Citizen K and British Vogue. And as soon as in July she did the cover of British Vogue. Among the Spring/ Summer 2003 fashion shows that Anne V walked were Anna Sui, Imitation of Christ, Marc by Marc Jacobs, MaxMara, and Dries Van Noten.

In 2004 Anne Vyalitsyna signed a deal to represent Escada Sport alongside Anouck Lepère and Marcelle Bittar. Then she took part in a number of fashion shows in Milan, New York and Paris. And in August and September she was photographed for Allure and Elle editorials. Besides, the model appeared in her first music video Out Is Through by Alanis Morissette.

In 2005 Anne V was widely featured in fashion magazines. She appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, Sports Illustrated, Russian Vogue. She also covered Russian Vogue and Italian Glamour (for the second time). Then Anne renewed her fragrance deal with Chanel and starred in Tommy Hilfiger ad campaign.

In 2006 she appeared in Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue twice (once alongside singer Kanye West) and did Italian Vogue beauty, Elle and Spanish Vogue editorials. She also modeled for Bloomingdale’s catalog and made a runway appearance at the spring Louis Vuitton show in Paris.

In 2008, in addition to Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, which she was already a regular in, Anne Vyalitsyna did editorials for Numéro and British Elle, L’Officiel, Italian Marie Claire and French Vogue. She signed with Women Management in Milan and returned to the runway. She walked 5 spring shows including Alexander Wang, Diesel, Bottega Veneta, Prada, and Miu Miu.

The year 2009 was very busy for Anne. She appeared in i-D, Another and V magazines, Sports Illustrated, Japanese Vogue beauty editorial, Dazed & Confused, Russian Vogue and Allure editorials. She covered French Elle in December. While she was widely photographed for glossy magazines she rarely appeared on the runway. But she made exceptions for Narciso Rodriguez, Zac Posen, and Hussein Chalayan and Costello Tagliapietra shows, which she closed. The list of campaigns Anne Vyalitsyna landed in 2009 included: Blanco, Desigual, Hugo Boss Orange, Gap, Benneton, and Miss Sixty.

In 2010 Anne was the covergirl of three reputable magazines – Russian Elle, French Elle and Spanish Vogue. She also appeared in German Vogue, Elle Sweden, Vogue Italia, US Vogue, Muse, Sports Illustrated, V magazine and and Allure. She prolonged her contracts with Hugo Boss Orange, H&M, Desigual, and Gap, and signed up as the face of Esprit. Her runway job included only big shows like Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture, Hermes, Viktor & Rolf, Giles, and Zac Posen. She finished the year with dramatic appearance in Misery video with her boyfriend Adam Levine and Maroon 5.

The most amazing thing that happened to Anne Vyalitsyna in 2011 was the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show during which Adam Levine was singing while she was walking the runway. It looked like a serenade to her. Besides, the Russian model appeared in another Maroon 5 video – Never Gonna Leave This Bed.

Charity Work

In November 2009, Anne Vyalitsyna ran the NYC marathon on behalf of Achilles International, which is a worldwide organization that encourages people with disabilities like cerebral palsy, paralysis, visual impairment, multiple sclerosis, amputations, and traumatic brain injuries to participate in running with the general public. She volunteered to guide a disabled Russian athlete through the race and Tweeted about the race in real-time.

Acting Career

In 2012 it has been announced that Anne V has landed a role in A Good Day to Die Hard , which is the fifth film in the Die Hard franchise. She will star alongside Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney. The movie will be released in February 2013.

Personal life

She dated Adam Levine from Maroon5 for two years but in early April of 2012 the couple announced they were no longer together. Anne told People magazine: “Adam and I have decided to separate in an amicable and supportive manner. We still love and respect each other as friends. I wish him all the best.” Anne and Adam met in spring 2010 at the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue release party in Las Vegas where the music band performed.

Anne Vyalitsyna was once linked to Leonardo DiCaprio but none of the two ever confirmed that.